Promises
by crazymofo332
Summary: It begins in a library. One-shot.
1. Part 1

_**Jeanette**_

**Working at the library **in the center of town not only meant that she had to get up at 6 a.m. just to switch the 'Close' sign so it said 'Open', but it meant that she had to stand behind a counter for at least nine hours –– not counting break time –– just in case someone visits. But from the one year she's been working here, _Tea Leaves and Stories _had been completely deserted from any customers. It would take almost a miracle to bring someone inside this ancient building for at least fifteen minutes.

It wasn't always like this; as Jeanette recalled, this bookstore was actually popular back in the 1800s. People have only lost interest in it after World War II, where it began to fall apart and soon became what it is today. Nobody would step inside the building, what with their new, fancy gadgets and phones with the ability to read books online. It felt like to Jeanette that she was the only person who still cared for real, paper or hardcover books. She wasn't the least interested in the electronics everyone carries around.

Besides the lonely, dusty atmosphere, Jeanette didn't mind drinking free, complimentary green tea in the tea section (which was luckily available for employees as well as customers). And since there were no customers to serve, at some point the female chipmunk could just sit back and enjoy a cup of tea while reading a copy of John Green's **The Fault in Our Stars**. Other than that, the most important reason was that this was her only solid job that paid her enough to keep her small room in_ Jack's Apartments_. It astoundingly gave her a fat check that covered electronics (the fridge, lights, etc. only; she wasn't into flat screened TVs and whatnot), food, water, and garbage.

Each day was like the next: Enter, switch the 'Close' sign, stand behind the counter, read and drink tea, leave. Saturday evening, though, about a half hour before closing time, a distant ring made her ears and head perk up from behind the blue cover of a book. After setting **The Fault in Our Stars **down on the table nearby, the inquiring chipmunk heads towards the front of the building. Her eyes land on the unlocked door that leads into _Tea Leaves and Stories_, which was wide open and blowing in the wind. _A customer, _she considers, _at this time?_

Jeanette glances around the room in search for another person, failing to spot someone even after roaming around. _Was it just the wind? _That was one possibility; her forgetful mind can sometimes leave the door not fully closed. But to her mistake, just as she turns around, another body crashes into hers and causes her to stagger backwards. Jeanette would have tripped and fallen to the ground for the hundredth time if a hand hadn't reached out to grab hers.

It took her a while to blink. Her body was forcefully pulled back up from the near touching of the floor, and her eyes soon met another.

"I'm so sorry." The voice that sounded was half high-pitched, half normal, signaling Jeanette that the unknown person was a chipmunk. The next thought that landed in her mind soon replaced everything that mattered around her. The person –– a male from the deeper voice –– has his blue beryl orbs locked on the purple clad. To say that she was surprised was an understatement, for the attraction in the guy's face was obvious, but to her, it was like she was under a trance.

"Miss?"

The sound triggers her mind to return to Earth. "H-Huh?"

"I asked if you were okay."

"Oh…I–" Jeanette awkwardly stops from her uneven voice. She clears her throat. "I'm fine."

"My name's Simon," the guy –– Simon –– states.

"I'm Jeanette," the brunette answers, fixing her lilac glasses that had been crooked from the almost-fall.

The staring contest continued once again after she got lost in his eyes. From the corners of her eyes, Jeanette could see a circular, black frame that was a result in glasses, just like her. His hair was a deep fudge color that was brushed to the side, the end slightly pointing upwards. Simon sported a light cerulean, collared shirt and brown khaki pants that were supported by a belt.

_Wait, _Jeanette abruptly thinks. _Blue eyes, dark brown hair, glasses, a chipmunk?_ She hadn't realized it before, but the Simon's formal appearance activated a notion in her. She suddenly apprehended _who _this person was. Her mouth lost its moistness, drying up just as her words did. The brunette just couldn't _believe _she hadn't recognized this person at all. If only she wasn't a fan of a member of the biggest boy band in the world; then it would seem like Simon was an ordinary guy that _didn't _turn her speechless.

"S-Simon Seville," Jeanette anxiously asks, "fr-from the Chipmunks?"

By her one sentence, she had changed Simon's emotion, causing his eyes to widen in shock. He was slightly stiffening in anxiety. "P-Please don't fangirl," he rapidly says. "My brothers and I are on break, and I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I wasn't planning on seeing another fan for a long time. We thought this was a small town that held not too much fans and it also seemed like the perfect place away from the cameras, and just–"

"Simon, Simon," Jeanette ends his rambling. "It-It's okay. I won't…um, _fangirl _over you." She was a little confused about the word he had chosen to define thrilled girls sharing their excitement. Jeanette could almost understand what he meant; being in, literally, the world's biggest band was a fat stamp to the head that said _FAMOUS_. She even saw on her local coffee shop's television Simon and his brothers being mobbed by hundreds of screaming girls.

"Oh…well, my apologies. I guess I'm just used to people all over the place screaming my name and asking for autographs and such."

"It's alright." Right as she accepted Simon's apology, the vintage grandfather clock in the bookstore chimes, indicating the end of her shift. _Has it been thirty minutes, already? _

"Are you closing, now? I saw the sign outside, but I wasn't sure if it meant the weekdays or not." Simon begins to amble around her, mostly to the ten foot bookcases, eyeing each hard-covered book cautiously. "I forgot; I have to get back to my hotel soon, but I stopped by here to grab a quick story."

"Oh, t-that's fine. I don't mind staying for a while. Take as long as you want."

"You sure your boss won't mind?"

"It's okay."

Simon shoots her with a half crooked smile.

…..

For the past week, Jeanette has been replaying that one Saturday all through her head. _Did I _really _meet Simon Seville? _She wouldn't have ever considered in her life that she, a typical, twenty-year-old town girl, would bump into someone as legendary as Simon. After she locked up _Tea Leaves and Stories_, her fingers did actually softly pinch her skin, waiting for the dream to end. But it didn't, so she was positive what happened was real.

Her eldest sister, Brittany, _endlessly_ blabbered to her on the phone once she dialed Jeanette from her college dorm room (Jeanette had spoken to her younger sister, Eleanor, first, but somehow Brittany got the news). All Brittany would ever chatter about over the phone was not Simon at all, for she was the least interested in him, but about his older brother Alvin Seville. Though she had denied it countless times, Jeanette and Eleanor knew that she was in love with the hot, sensational chipmunk.

"Jeanette, why didn't you ask for an autograph?!" Brittany had yelled through the cell phone. "You should've asked for a picture and sent it to me! I could've been _more _popular than I ever was!"

Jeanette had then hung up because she was finishing up tidying her apartment.

Even though the same routine applies everyday of her life (not counting Sunday, where the library was closed), what happened between Simon and her almost seemed to brighten up each thing she did; whether it was dusting off bookcases or making herself tea or even watching children play through the window. A smile appeared on her lips at the thought of him. The idea still lingered in her mind one soothing, Sunday afternoon.

Frosty, December breezes nips at her oversized sweater and sends her dark violet scarf flying frantically. The unopened parts of her neck left from the moving scarf were being hit by the wind, making the chipmunk shiver. But instead of picking up her speed, Jeanette remains at her slow pace, strolling around even at forty-five degrees Fahrenheit. Her nose was too busy digging inside the copy of **The Fault in Our Stars**, furiously reading paragraph by paragraph.

Her eyes only somehow tear away from the book when she was a few feet away from a closed, music store. Inside the glass of a window, the twenty-year-old could see a fresh, new bass guitar standing on supporters. Jeanette could easily admit she was fascinated by the instrument, only half because Simon often plays it. The other half would be because from her faintest memory; Jeanette's chipmunk parents used to play soothing melodies to her when she was very young. Ever since, she longed to become skilled at playing a simple-looking guitar.

She never got the chance. At one time in her life, she had attempted using the guitar for fun at a picnic, but the result was peoples' ears bleeding and one of the strings snapping. Time didn't give her a lot of tries to practice since she was into reading and or interesting parts in scientific gestures. _If only I could– _

"Great piece, right?" The familiar voice startles Jeanette. As if by some crazy miracle, the rock star she was thinking of stood to her left, gazing at the amazing acoustic guitar as she did.

"Oh, um, y-yeah, it is."

"I have one exactly like that, but this one is the new version, two-point-zero…" Simon continues on twittering about everything there is to know about bass guitars. Jeanette had begun with all ears about his speech, but at some point she was dragged back to his beautiful facial features. _If only I could play, _She thinks.

"I can teach you, you know?"

"W-What?" The brunette was puzzled at how Simon was able to read her mind. _Did I say that out loud?_

He chuckles, "Yeah, you did."

Jeanette smiles feeling foolish that she spoke her mind for the millionth time.

He then added, "I'm serious though. About the, um, guitar lessons."

She was left in the state of surprise. _Simon Seville_, teach _her _how to play guitar? Of course, when she was a young child she had expected her father to show her the skills of mastering the instrument, but never in her life would she look ahead to Simon doing it. Her first thought that runs to her mind was a denied answer. Simon was on a _vacation_, for crying out loud. A vacation as in getting away from the media and just relaxing like any ordinary person would.

Jeanette would _never_ want him to just waste his luxurious time teaching her plain lessons; that would be intrudingly rude. "Oh no, no," she immediately declined, "It's okay. You don't have too."

"Do you not _want_ me too?" Simon raises an eyebrow. For some reason, it seems that his face tilted toward hers.

"N-No, no, that's not w-what I meant. What I meant was that, um, I-I just…" She stops herself from continuing the unexpected stammering in front of a celebrity. Jeanette hadn't known how quickly she would turn anxious by his face just being a few feet close to hers. By instinct –– Jeanette didn't know why ––, her body takes one big step backwards so they weren't so adjacent. The glasses girl didn't mean to step away from him, but for an unknown reason her body wanted personal space.

"I'm kidding. I'm cool if you don't want to," he gives her the same half-crooked smile as before. "See you, Jeanette."

Jeanette blinks. _He remembered my name. _Sure she hasn't made new friends in this town (or any friends), but most of the times when she greets new people, they always forget her name every time. And this was Simon; Jeanette would think famous people wouldn't remember names of people they met a week ago. She was now having second thoughts of saying "No" to the lessons. Brittany's voice was already screaming in her mind. _Tell him you want lessons! C'mon, this is a once in a life opportunity! He is _Simon Seville, _your favorite member from The Chipmunks? _

By this point, as Brittany's voice was still shouting in her head, Jeanette was sprinting to Simon just before he turns to the next block. "W-Wait, Simon!"

He turns his head towards her right as she stops next to him. "Oh hey, you decided to take those lessons?"

"Er…yeah."

"Cool. I promise you I'll be the best teacher you've ever had."

"Promise?" Jeanette makes sure.

"Promise," Simon assures. "Okay, so when do you get off work?"

"Today. Well, every Sunday that is."

"That's good; we can start your lessons early."

"Wh-What?"

"You can come over at our hotel." Simon beckons her to follow. Jeanette was about to decline an amazing opportunity again –– she would've insisted to start the lessons at her apartment ––, but Simon softly took her hand and guided her to the fancy hotel. Though they had just met a week ago, Jeanette didn't mind as much as she would've a complete stranger. She remembers Hazel Lancaster from **The Fault in Our Stars **exaggerating to Augustus Waters, _"You could be an ax murderer."_

Simon didn't _seem _like an ax murderer, anyways.

…..

About two weeks have gone by, and the time spun by faster than Jeanette could ever imagine. An ordinary acoustic guitar didn't seem like a complicated instrument to her anymore, but now a striking, very simple sounding thing that enhanced her self esteem when playing. She rewound back to the times someone had offered her a magnificent chance of some sort from a talent that they saw in her, or when people had complimented her, where she would widen her eyes and turn on her shyness and politely say, "Oh, oh n-no. I-I'm not _that _good…I barely really know how t-…to…um." and so on.

Ever since the lessons have started, there was a change in her, a good change. Jeanette could easily take a compliment from others –– mostly from Simon's family, who she really ever communicated with –– without giving off an insecure tone. To top it off, she had unknowingly grown used to Simon, not viewing him as the oh-so-famous member of a band, but something casual, like the brother she never had. It was evident that Simon was just as comfortable to her as she was him, too.

But then her mind skipped back to the present (embarrassed that she had drafted off to her dreamer world), where Simon was instructing something about advanced chords in the guitar.

"––watch it carefully," the chipmunk states. "Okay, give it a try."

"Wait, w-what?" Jeanette was highly alert, not having a clue about the thing Simon was talking about.

"Play it; I'm sure it isn't too advanced as I explained it to be, but you get the picture."

"Erm…" The confused brunette trails off, going along with a random procedure that might have fitted Simon's order.

"That's good, that's good. Nice job."

Jeanette mentally gives a sigh of relief, punishing herself for paying no attention to her new 'teacher.' After a few more practices, Simon presents her 'homework' for the day, invited her to stay for dinner in the hotel (which she gladly accepted), and waved to her goodbye once night had fallen. Back at the apartment, Jeanette couldn't pry herself away from her novel as she completed the 'homework.' _I can just take a break…_

As she was starting to get into the latest chapter of the novel, someone rapped on the door, interrupting the climax of the story. Puzzled since rarely anyone comes over, Jeanette walks over to the front door, unlocks it, and is greeted by the too familiar face from earlier.

"Simon?"

"Hey," the blue clad addresses. "I just came by to tell you..., you forgot your jacket. Well, a-and your phone. It-It was inside the jacket, so…"

Jeanette grins at the sudden awkwardness Simon had developed. It was somehow, in a friendly way, cute. "Oh, th-thank you." She takes her jacket along with her phone. "Well...goodnight."

"W-Wait!" Simon's tough shoe prevents the door from closing. "I don't know if you're busy tomorrow or something, but…um, w-would you like to go out for lunch? A-Are you free?"

The interrogation solidified the girl with the glasses, stiffening her up and robbing her of breath. Her grip on the jacket hardened, the same being with the phone, as her brain slowly processes the offer being thrown directly at her face. The miniature Brittany living in half of her conscious screams, _"DO IT! DO IT! HE'S ASKING YOU ON A _DATE_!" _Then, the small Eleanor on the other half calmly says, _"It _is _a once in a lifetime opportunity. Say yes, but don't fangirl. Be cautious; this is a celebrity we're talking about."_

"Um, Jeanette?"

"Uh…" The drought that took over Jeanette's mouth only made her give off a scratchy word.

"I-I'm not forcing you or anything, I mean, it's-…it's your choice." Jeanette catches his expression drop, posture lowering with the head. She was quickly thrown away from the state of being surprised, giving out unintended stammering.

"No, i-it-it's com-completely fine…"

A few seconds pass.

"So…?"

"Oh, um, y-yeah, yeah! I'dlovetogoouttomorrow," Jeanette speaks fast, squishing the words as though it would get the acceptance over with.

Simon's eyes brighten up, posture regaining its straightness, and he responds, "Really? That's great, that's great! Um, I-I mean, cool." He chuckles at nothing in particular for a brief second. "I'll pick you up around twelve."

The goodbyes were short and quick, making her stare at a blank wall as if she were talking to an imaginary friend. "Whoa," she murmurs to herself, to her conscious. Jeanette had just agreed on going on a _date _with Simon Seville. _No, _her mind quickly argues. _It isn't a date; just a friendly lunch with your _friend_._

_Friend. _

The word for someone you know well enough to be buddies was too foreign for the girl, a word too cloudy to be brought up again. She couldn't even bring up the last time someone like her would have a…friend. Although many acquaintances accompanied her through school and college, Jeanette thought that counting those as a 'friend' was too…too _weird _for her taste. Ones who decided to stay with a coy nerd like her were more like affable classmates, and most of her free time was spent studying or reading, not hanging out with people.

Though to her, it was a warm feeling that tingled inside to have Simon as a friend. She had now shut the door to her apartment, sighing happily into her hands and melting down to the wooden floorboards. And in her ears, which could pick up the faintest sounds, she could perceive the voice of Simon saying, "Yes!" as he exited the building.

…..

"Really?" Simon laughs. "I graduated college in three years, too!"

"Amazing," Jeanette agrees. The two enthusiastic chipmunks buzzed on about their similar ideas and opinions on science, high-intelligence-related subjects, and mostly their siblings (Jeanette not so much; she didn't want to insult Brittany).

"I mean, Alvin can a bit of an imbecile, but he's still my brother, and I love him."

"Y-Yeah, I guess, and Brittany can sometimes be a bit…_stubborn_, maybe. But she's still my sister, and I love her." Jeanette picks a moderate amount of salad and chews on it, listening carefully as Simon continues the conversation since she wasn't the type who talked much.

The lunchtime out was going excellently perfect, Jeanette thinks it was a miracle. Simon had countless things in common with her; something she couldn't believe when she heard it. Simon turned out to be the best friend she never had after all: entertaining her with some jokes –– which turned out incredibly bad, but she laughed anyways ––, giving her the best time of her life, even paying attention to her, something her acquaintances in school had forgotten to do.

And when the check had come, Simon, being the complete gentlemen he is, paid for everything. "Really," he insisted when Jeanette whined on wanting to pay, "it's okay. I have a lot of money anyway, and you're a guest."

Jeanette was eager on the latest conversation Simon had started as they headed for the front doors of the restaurant. Instead of the expected fresh breeze and the beam of sunlight when they stepped out, Jeanette and Simon had flashes of white light being thrown at them. Almost more than twenty people, young adults and old, were holding large, sophisticated cameras with blinding flashes as they stole hundreds of photos of the two.

"Simon, Simon!" one of the people of the crowd calls out. "Are you and the rest on a secret vacation?" More questions were rapidly flying around the air, and Jeanette notices how agitated Simon begins to get.

"Has Alvin slept with more than ten different girls?"

"When's the next music video going to be released?"

"Is it a rumor that your adoptive father is in rehab?"

"Is Theodore going on a diet?"

"How fat has Theodore gotten?"

Jeanette's eyebrows drop with the frown settling on her face. How could these people be giving Simon _rude _questions about his family? Still, she trails behind Simon cautiously, avoiding any questions that were given to her. For a moment, everything seems alright; Jeanette and Simon were cautiously avoided the crowding sea of people who were growing numerously by the second. Jeanette had hope that the paparazzi were ignoring her purposely, having no interest in her whatsoever.

But then, it looked as if the group was crowding around _her_.

Simon's grip tightens around her tiny hand as she was bombarded by shouts of hurtful and irrelevant questions.

"Who is this girl?"

"Is she your new boyfriend?"

"Is it Alvin's new hookup?"

"Is this girl supposed to be ugly?"

"What is wrong with her hair?"

Jeanette's mind was filling up with her insecure thoughts, crumbling her self esteem and crushing it like a cake. The interrogations turn into hurtful ones and those changes into insulting comments. Her eyes began to fill up with water, each comment of her stinging like a severe mosquito bite. _Wow, she's hideous, how could Simon possibly be around her? Ha, look guys! We've found a muffin top. Gross, look at how thin that twig is; you can see her bones!_

Suddenly, extremely injured from the lambaste and some tears staining her clothes, Jeanette's hand slips out of Simon's, leaving her to be surrounded by the monsters calling insult by insult to her back. _Oh no, _Jeanette thinks. _No, No, No! Where is he?_ Simon's face or black spectacles were nowhere; everywhere her head turns an unfamiliar face of a paparazzi protrudes her personal space. She soon halts searching, silently whimpering, "Simon?" to no answer. The swarm was now larger than before with no space for Jeanette, and this alerted her senses.

"No, not now, _please _not now," she murmurs to herself, pleading that she wouldn't go into a breakdown. The people grow into thick walls, closing her in and capturing the oxygen from her lungs. Jeanette was in complete peril as her claustrophobia kicks in; accompanied by the pain she was feeling from the criticism. Her eyes scan for Simon once more, the calling of his name growing fainter, and still there is nothing.

"Guys! Guys!" one of the males shouts. "Look at that! I think she's starting to cry!"

And her lips were bitten harshly, trying her best to stop the water running down. _Calm down, calm down. Come on, please calm down. _

"JEANETTE!"

Simon. It was Simon. Her breathing begins to return to a normal speed, and Jeanette finally looks up. Another blunder; just as her eyes spotted what looked like his brown hair, her glasses failed to reflect a light. One of the cameras had flashed directly to her eyes –– her lenses of the glasses –– and her eyesight went to a bright white. Being temporarily blind with only a few shots of colors every minute was horrible.

"JEANETTE!"

There it was again, only she couldn't see. And with more and more bodies shoving her around, she was near the level of breaking down. Just as her claustrophobia got to her, a warm hand take hers, forcefully yanking her out of the terrible crowd. Simon, of course, was the one that leads Jeanette to the blue-gray Range Rover his family owned, immediately ordering the driver to take them home stat. by home, Simon meant his hotel, and even though Jeanette had mumbled to go back to her job, Simon rejected it and told her he would talk to her boss.

"A-Are you…okay?" he politely speaks in the middle of the drive.

Jeanette looks up as he addresses her, wiping her dried up eyes even though the tears ended, and mumbles out, "Yeah…"

"Look, again, I want to apologize. The paparazzi didn't mob me since last week, and we" –– which meant his family –– "thought this town wasn't major and peaceful. I honestly have _no _idea how that happened. I-I'm so sorry."

"Really, S-Simon…, it's…all good." And that was a half lie, half truth. Sure, she was comforted by him greatly, and she appreciated that, but those comments, those _insults_…they still left something on her that she couldn't quite release. She decides to try her best to ignore them, but it was difficult.

"You're…, you're sure?"

She hummed a yes. "I-I promise."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

…..

Since the mobbing of the vicious reporters, Jeanette seemed to have the memory fading. It's been about a week and a half, and during those ten days, Simon and Jeanette had a bit of…exciting events happening. The guitar lessons were happening, definitely, but they were unusual as of the day after the lunch time out. Simon announced to Jeanette that her 'graduation' of learning how to play the acoustic guitar was coming close. To celebrate, as Simon says, 'because this is going to be a special time,' some _amazing _things have happened that were all planned by the one and only.

For instance, when she finally managed to play three small tunes Simon picked out form the beginner's section, she was gladly awarded with a free copy of the rare, special edition book that was a sequel to one Jeanette adored. She was absolutely happy. Then there was another time where the glasses male selected the movie she had longed to see based on her favorite novel, **The Fault in Our Stars**. Somehow, after she finished a _full _song and a difficult song, Simon surprised her with the _premiere _tickets. And to show her bad emotions, which was _extremely _embarrassing (she couldn't help it), Jeanette had sobbed accidentally on Simon's shoulder towards the ending.

But he also released a few 'manly' tears too.

To add onto the fun sensations of the days, Simon and Jeanette had sort of been…fooling around lately during the 'sessions,' though Simon allowed it since Jeanette was a 'high-quality, bass guitar player.' Of course, at one point the messing around led from one occasion to another, and as soon as she knew it, Jeanette had fallen on top of Simon, who, in her case, tripped her purposely as a joke.

"Ugh," the eldest of the Chipmunks, Alvin, had cringed, "_nerd love_."

The small moment didn't last long after that, though, since the coy brunette was mortified about what happened, and she had pushed herself off. But to her relief, Simon had only cleared his throat and continued as if the tension between them never occurred. Jeanette was clueless to herself as she remembered those little moments they shared together. Of _course _it was in a _friendly _way, nothing between both of the chipmunks was too intense, but that's what she forced herself to believe.

So in a few of a those days, her heart had begun speaking louder than before, building up more pressure to her body than before, only when Simon was around. The only noticeable things Jeanette had released while in the same atmosphere as him were the awkward tensions from her constant stammering (which of course she _hated_). Once in a while, her heart would do something unusual and unclear, such as pound several, hard beats or skip around or even let loose a comfy, sugary feeling. Jeanette's heart slightly convinced her she might have _some _feelings for Simon Seville. It was a maybe.

It was just one of those stupid, little elementary school crushes.

Nothing more, well, at least she didn't _feel _anything more that would lead to love.

Back to the present, Jeanette was happily skipping (well, it was more of a cheerful stride) to Simon's hotel, which was just about ten minutes away. Simon had asked her out (as a _friend_) to go somewhere as a 'surprise,' and she was more than happy to accept it. But as she heads for the hotel door leading to his family's room, Jeanette's sensitive ears picks up some negative voices.

"––NOT SAFE!" She makes out while standing a few inches away from the door, a fist raised mid-air from a stopped knock.

"SHUT –– YOUR FAULT ––!" The thick, tough walls and doors of the hotel managed to let go a few words even she couldn't pick up. Some voices were merged together in lots of yells and shouts, and she could hear only Simon's familiar voice; maybe he was close to the door.

"Dave! This is _MY LIFE_…" And so on went the bickering and screaming. Jeanette couldn't stand hearing his family argues, and the guilt of eavesdropping made it worse, so with her strong knuckles, she rapped furiously on the door. The tones and sounds faint into the stressed air, Jeanette biting her bottom lip and waiting patiently. Soon, she was face-to-face with a nonchalant Simon Seville, who treats the moment like screaming didn't take place. _Was it just the neighbors? _Jeanette wasn't sure; it was noisier from the Seville's hotel room.

"Jeanette," Simon smiles half crookedly, "you're early. Sorry if I kept you waiting, but hey, let's go now to save time."

She returns his smile while linking arms with him –– a habit they created since the guitar lessons –– as he guides her to the unknown place. Although his attitude and personality was incredibly normal, Jeanette spots his uneasy jaw clenched with stress. Something must've happened when she was in her apartment.

* * *

**HI-LLLOOO!**

**IT'S CRRRAAAAZZZZZYYYY MOFO!**

**(NO I'm not done updating Darkness Awaits shut up.)**

**Greetings fellow salads and bench lovers. I've posted another one-shot, two parts, so here you are. That's what you're getting from me so far, deal with it. I apologize for the slowness and me not interacting with my stories much but..., ahhhhh my laziness was severe sorreh.**

***awkwardly coughs***

**Well, anyways, here's a new piece of my writing, OKAY? I'll try to speed up my updating since school's almost over with Summer Break (WOOO!). Also, am I the only one who watched **The Fault in Our Stars **movie? Or the only fan here? Anyone? P.S, the part where it says Jeanette cried over the movie was from a real-life event that happened to me. Yes, that's right, I sobbed a river. Dun judge meh cause I'm a conflicted fangirrl! :))**

**I also got a question for you guys: _Do you think the part with Jeanette and paparazzi was a bit...overdramatic? Yes? No? I'm not sure, but I think I slightly overdid it a bit. I dun know._**

**Okay, until next time, BYEEE. :3**

**FUN FACT #1: This one-shot was originally going to be an Alvinette story, but I was like "Nahhhhh" since the plot I had in mind fitted Simonette better. Oops, heh. :D**


	2. Part 2 (End)

_**Jeanette**_

"**Where are we **going?" she optimistically asks, her mind pestering with itself to rid of the Sevilles fighting. It was at first a quiet, not so awkward but tense drive with Simon on the wheel, Jeanette redoing the sentence _"What happened? What happened?" _mentally because of what happened in the apartment. She couldn't stop herself from over-thinking the situation she had eavesdropped on, and it wasn't just the guilt of listening to them pinching at her. Simon's voice was loud and clear in some type of agitated tone, and she had never quite seen—or heard—him heated in any way.

He _looked _fine on the outside except for the tightened jaw that didn't seem to have softened. It was evident that _something_ was bothering him, but Jeanette couldn't find the guts to chat about it with him; after all, he was pretty excited for planning this going out thing, and she didn't want to ruin the vibe (even if it kind of was already in the apartment).

"I'm taking you somewhere." He smirks playfully.

"That was inevitable, though," Jeanette returns his smile. "But, I mean, specifically."

"I already told you it was a surprise."

"Aw-w-w-w," she quietly whines in response, "but I hate surprises."

"Well, you'll just have to deal with it."

Jeanette then goes on about guessing, and receiving a "No" for an answer, until she trails her last sentence off. Simon teases her about the 'super-ultra-mega surprise,' making his non-laughable jokes that just Jeanette would giggle at. It went on for about twenty minutes, the two having the most fun drive, and to Jeanette, it was another normal conversations with her best friend. She really liked this; having thought being best friends (or even regular friends) with a celebrity was tough and difficult to manage, but with Simon, he was the type of go-with-the-flow guy (most of the time) who you could befriend easily.

And of course, Jeanette adored that. She liked being able to be comfortable around a guy best friend, just fooling around sometimes, talking about random science-related things that were fun (mostly between those two; most ordinary people would be bored out of their minds). Simon was in fact, to Jeanette, incredibly important to her life. In some reasons, in some little things, disaster would strike if Simon were to somehow be pried off of Jeanette's side. She didn't know the reason _why_, but she didn't think about it much.

"_Maybe it's because you _like _him," _the little Brittany in her conscious declares.

_Well, I do like him, _Jeanette thinks back. _But he's just my best friend. _

"_Mhhm," _Conscious Brittany teases. _"He's a cute best friend with _benefits._"_

Jeanette didn't reply to her subconscious after that; she was too busy over-thinking the problem which wasn't actually a problem. She didn't like, _like_ him; maybe it was one of those elementary school crushes; it couldn't be _that _major.

"_Tell that to me when you're heart rate picks up and you start heating up like an oven when you're around him," _her imaginary sister in her mind says again.

"Hey, Jean," Simon interrupts her deep pondering with the little nickname he adopted for her.

Jeanette stares up at him. "Hmm?"

"We're here."

He opens the door for her to step out, and as she gazes at the beautiful scenery in front of her, she is mesmerized. Her mind flips back to a scene in the book **The Fault in Our Stars**, where Augustus Waters took Hazel to a place called _Funky Bones _for a picnic. And this place, to her, well, it looked to be the _exact _same. Oversized bones were scattered in the grass, about waist-high and made out of fine plastic. A sculptured rock sticking out from the grass read _F…. Bones _with the first word faded and washed away by erosion. The only difference Jeanette spots as she views the remarkable scenery was a tall hill the size of a giraffe.

"Hey, you coming or do I have to carry you up there myself?" Simon jokes, snapping the brunette out of her deep thoughts. She jogs up to his side—which was a bit difficult considering he had longer legs than her and was quick when walking. Her eyes trail down to Simon's hands, where a large picnic basket and an orange juice carton were being held. Her eyes widen.

"We're not doing what I think we're doing, are we?" Jeanette eagerly asks, excitement bubbling inside her.

"I don't know," Simon teases, "is it?"

They finally halt at the top of the hill, going underneath the large, ancient, oak tree. Jeanette got away with helping Simon set up his little 'surprise' even when he insisted it was his treat. A red-orange, checkered mat lies on the spring green grass below them, supporting the picnic basket and orange juice carton on top. The blue clad extracts paper plates and utensils along with plastic cups out of the basket, inserting triangular cut sandwiches to finish the 'surprise.'

"Here it is," Simon announces, presenting a real, attractive smile.

"This seems very legit," she responds, examining the sandwich to see if it had the right ingredients. "You got everything right; dry sandwiches with Dutch cheese and red tomatoes from Mexico—"

"Actually, those are Dutch, also. I got them specially ordered," he smirks.

"That's even better. I cannot believe you did this for me. I mean, how did you even find a real-life _Funky Bones_?"

"I know a guy. Well, guys."

They continue to the finger sandwiches in the awkward silence that followed. Every once in a while, one may take the pint of orange juice and pour some in a cup, maybe even offer another sandwich but for most of the time, the two relaxed on the hilltop, happily gazing out into the beautiful _Funky Bones_. At some point, though, the two chipmunks begin an on-and-off staring contest. Jeanette would sneak a glance at Simon, who would turn his head, and when Jeanette turns her head away to avoid getting caught staring, Simon steals a glance at her too, as she can see form the corner of her eye.

"No one's ever done this to me before," Jeanette timidly admits out of the blue as they chewed on the last of the very dry sandwiches. The mist of uncomfortable tension subsides, and Simon tilts his head sideways at her.

"How so?"

"I mean, no friends—or even family member, really—have ever done…_this_." Her hands are put out into the air for more explanation of the 'this.'

"By 'this' do you mean reliving cheesy scenes from sad, romance books?" Simon laughs.

"Yeah."

The two moderately end the little picnic, pack everything back in the car, and decide to hang out longer in the _Funky Bones _area. Jeanette was completely ecstatic in the whole event, the emotion bubbling inside of her like a heated pot of soup. Some events that past were filled with irrelevant questions, foolish behavior, and a load of basic humor in the air. Simon treated her like the greatest gentleman he was; he was always so affable to her, so tender and helpful that Jeanette almost questioned it to be…a fake act.

Of course, the thought didn't settle in her mind at all; Simon wasn't like that.

The rest of day was half spent lying on the large, plastic bones and half spent relaxing with one another. Jeanette's way of relaxing was usually having a cup of tea while getting into the latest novel, but today's relaxation was spent by Simon selecting random dandelions off the prickly grass and handing it to Jeanette, who blew them and watched as they become one with the wind. Much later, Jeanette and Simon named the countless cotton balls floating in the blue sky, which was a childish task with clouds, but they got pleasure from it anyway.

"Wait," Simon suddenly interjects through the silence, "what time is it?"

"It's"—she checks her watch—"half past five. Why?"

"I almost forgot about it," he begins to ramble. "Just..., just stay here for a second."

Simon jogs towards the family's Range Rover and pulls out an enormous, rectangular box wrapped in thin wrapping paper. Jeanette tilts her head sideways in a sudden expression of confusion, wondering what the heck Simon was doing struggling to go up the tall hill with the weighty box in his arms. She considered it at first to be a gift of some type—it seemed obvious from the looks of it—, but that wasn't logical. Why would _he _give her a present? She hadn't done anything that she'd known of to be rewarded.

"Here," Simon wheezed, plopping the box against the oak tree. "I"—wheeze—"got you — something…, something here."

"Are you alright?" the female chipmunk says, placing a hand on his back to control his breathing. _What the heck was in that box? Boulders?_

"Oh yeah, yeah," he hurriedly responds, "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

Simon gazes up at the darkening sky for a long moment, and then returns his attention to her. Replacing his regular voice with a slightly serious tone, he announces, "Okay, Jeanette. You have exquisitely learned every single teaching I have gave you, going through not only hard notes in music, but of course smoothly riding through _beautiful_"—he dramatically pauses for the word to sink in—"songs like cake. It was actually something very pleasant to watch besides the part where you somehow skipped homework with reading that novel of yours."

Jeanette freezes, embarrassed that he had caught her, and reluctantly objects, "But the book was addictive—"

"Uh, uh!" he exclaims, copying the familiar routine of what Augustus Waters did while in _Funky Bones_. "Don't interrupt me because I have practiced and rehearsed and put all my energy and sweat in this. Okay, so—wait, where was I? I forgot."

"Um…, y-you were at the part where…I skipped homework," Jeanette mumbles back, fiddling around with her thumbs because she was busted.

"Ah, yes! Right, so—…hey, cheer up, I'm not that mad." Simon pats her shoulder after seeing how guilty she was beginning to act. Raising her chin up so he can examine Jeanette's face, Simon continues, "You have been the most _wonderful_—and only—student who has learned how to play the bass by me. Back to the point, you were absolutely incredible. I could almost say that you could make a member of the band and replace me with your bassist skills, but hey, let's not talk about that…"

The guilt subsides, and now Jeanette's jaw hurt from smiling so much. "Thank you—"

"Wait, wait, I'm not finished. As I was saying, you have willingly, incredibly…, _substantially_…passed your guitar lessons. And from your remarkable work, I present to you this"—he bows towards the box—"as a reward."

"You got me a box?" the small girl teases.

"What—no! It's what's _inside _the box. Come here and open it."

After heaving the box closer to Jeanette, the brunette girl repeatedly knocks on the gift. "I wonder what it is…" Very cautiously, her fingers begin to tug at the tape securing the wrapping paper, taking all the time in the world to delicately open the gift instead of tearing it apart like what others would do.

It wasn't that he was annoyed or anything, but Jeanette catches that Simon was the slightest impatient at her fragileness with the gift. "Jeanette…, you don't have to be careful. It's just cheap wrapping paper I found from Dave's closet…"

"Oh, right…, sorry." Once she was done pulling off some scotch tape, Jeanette takes a bundle of wrinkling paper and shreds it down. The box reveals only some letters in bold print, **R … 2. **Until the whole box was apparent to the eye, Jeanette continued ripping parts of the paper, gently and not rushed, seeming as if she was in a trance. The box finally exposes what type of award Simon gave her with a picture of a clean acoustic placed in the middle and the bolded words in use,

**ACOUSTIC GUITAR 2.0**.

Her eyes could've burst out of the sockets if it were bigger than it was. Mind jumbled with fuzzy excitement and overjoyed, Jeanette scans the whole box, rereading anything that had the word 'guitar' labeled on print. Her eyes were dead set on Simon's. "You're kidding," she shouts, louder than she had ever before.

"Oh," he chuckles back, "but I'm not."

It has been over a century that Jeanette had done something like she did just now. With the overloaded bliss whelming in her emotions, the instinct she had was to let out a high-pitched yelp. She had the excuse of feeling like one of those fangirls again, because the moment the scream let out from her mouth, her body attacks Simon's in a crushing bear hug. "Thank you so much," she cries in a glowing joy. "You're the best friend I could ever ask for."

"I'm glad you love it," Simon murmurs back, accepting the unexpected hug.

It felt for one second that the hug could last forever. Jeanette has a wave of comforting tingles spreading into her emotions and feelings, and she suspects Simon was the same because of how he snuggles into her shoulder like it was a pillow. His larger arms were placed on top of hers and the friendly hug just somehow felt like something more. But as her eyes close, the thoughts of her brain begin to process what was happening.

Out of sudden instinct in wanting personal space, her body ends the hug and steps back. "Oh, s-sorry…, I-I didn't mean to g-…get too excited…" The words fall tangled out of her mouth.

Simon did what she appreciates when nice moments alter into awkward ones. "No need to apologize." He starts to act as if the tension was nonexistent with an obvious, fake cough. "Maybe you'd like to play a song on your new guitar?"

Jeanette immediately agrees, nodding a bit too severely, and Simon creates a small seating section on the grass. After patting an area to his right to signal the purple clad to take a seat, Jeanette pulls the present towards her. She holds the spotless acoustic with shaky hands, gasping for breath from the anxiety whelming inside of her. Her head slowly turns to Simon for permission to play, and he nods encouragingly.

"One…, two…, three…" The small ritual—learned by Simon—she whispers to herself before playing passes by moderately. Her nimble fingers pounce at the soft yet strong strings of the guitar, a faded, musical sound arising from it. As she begins to increase the volume of the song, her hands start to adapt to the mass of the guitar, her mind becomes affixed with the right beat, and soon the unease subsides, only to be replaced by the joy of music.

"You're doing great, Jeanette," Simon agrees cheerfully, building more of her self esteem once more. "You're very lovely, you know?"

_He called me lovely. _Jeanette returns the half smirk, half smile to him and confidently tugs at the guitar strings, enhancing the tune as she nears the chorus. With more enthusiasm gained, the original coy, quiet girl begins to _sing_, not by sudden instinct, not by blurting, but by a great choice. And to her surprise, Simon joins her tiny sing along, both their voices collaborating into a striking sound.

They sing even long after the song had ended, the chipmunks too engrossed in the taste of music to notice. The emotions in the female had been unwound much after the singing; this was one of Jeanette's favorite things about hanging out with Simon. Music had been a remembrance of her past, both happy and depressing times in which she would mumble out high notes to her, and her only. To cut things short, the sensation of breaking out of her isolated shell that had been defending her since her father died was still astonishing.

Her thoughts begin to travel elsewhere now, as if wandering around the same old feelings for years was thrown away in the garbage. The memories that never could escape of every time she was near Simon played as a movie: all the times he praise her for completing even the tiniest accomplishment, those moments where Alvin would tease her playfully and Simon would stand up for her instantly; she even recalls the multiple events where Simon would try to prove something to her and fail incredibly, though their laughs filled the air.

She cherished that feeling.

And from the cherishing unravels an itching question.

"Simon," Jeanette utters, "why were you and Dave shouting back at the hotel?"

The dreamy singing voice of his weakens after the realization of the interrogation. With the body language equivalent to when he had tried to ask her out for lunch, the band member slouches, his jaw falls into a pout, and the once bright eyes fades to gray. This also startles Jeanette, who immediately ends the song in the middle, and rushes to think of a possible way to cheer her friend up. _Why the heck did I do that?! It was going fine until you messed it up. Oh my god, oh my god._

Jeanette's pessimistic feelings return to her subconscious while the anxiety crawls back up her spine, forming intense heat to her body and causing a biting lip. This couldn't be happening to her, not now, not ever.

"_Oh my _god_!" Subconscious Brittany interferes. "Would you _please _stop worrying about this?! It even hurts my head and I'm supposed to be a figment of your imagination!"_

"_Hey Jeanette, it'll be all right," pipes the imaginary Eleanor in the back of her head. "Simon's your best friend, remember? He won't be mad at you."_

"_Yeah right," Brittany retorts. "I've seen guys like him ditch girls who ask about private things. Don't be so oblivious, Eleanor."_

"_Oh my gosh, Brittany! I'm trying to help her!"_

"_Well it isn't going to help if you keep feeding her such bullshit!"_

The upcoming fight between her two consciousnesses was too much, and as much as she tried, the brunette couldn't block their screaming at each other out. So as the two sisters argued in her mind, she attempts to make a simpler solution.

"Oh gosh, I'm so, so sorry. Simon, I didn't mean to ask that. You don't have to answer—wait, you're probably mad at my eavesdropping! I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry—"

"Okay, okay! Jeanette, stop worrying about it. Please. It's fine…, it, uh, really is."

No matter how convincing Simon attempts to sound, Jeanette just wouldn't buy it. "No, it's not fine. Not fine at all. I-I shouldn't have…, shouldn't have eavesdropped…God, I am such a terrible friend."

Then his whole arm was placed on her dainty figure as he pulls her into a forgiving hug. If she had the smallest amount of happiness rather than guilt, she would've gladly accepted the hug. But she wasn't, and so she didn't, only having the ability to place her arms on her head.

"Please don't be sad Jeanette. You need to smile. Beautiful girls like you need to smile," Simon gently offers.

_He called me beautiful._

The compliment helps her greatly, but the running idea in her mind was that the statement was only friendly, nothing else. She begins to remember why this all began in the first place, too: Simon only offered to give her lessons because she gave him a free book. That was it. He was only her tutor, her teacher, merely just a guy with an ability to crush her in the friendzone. The more she lingers over the thought, the more it worsened the moment.

Finally, the purple clad slips out of Simon's grasp with like melted butter, slowly grazing her feet across the freshly mowed grass. Her legs bring her closer to the oversized, plastic bones and set her atop of a rib cage. The subconscious move affects Simon's following, where he just positions there, a complete, cold statue.

"Simon," she whispers at an appropriate time, "do you actually want to stay around with me?" Jeanette didn't know—or care—if he had heard her only because she wanted to get the subject out of her chest.

"I like you, Jeanette. You're my best friend," Simon somehow replies to the inaudible voice.

"But…, but why?"

"Because," he declares as he puts himself on the rib cage next to her, "you're highly intelligent, you're very humane, the way your hair falls slightly out of the messy bun you throw on everyday is attractive, and the way you just chuckle softly instead of laughing hardly at my infamous jokes is unique. Do you think I hate you?"

"No…, but…I-I just hate that I listened into your privacy."

"And I forgive you for that, Jeanette. You're okay. I'm okay."

"Do you promise that?" Jeanette closes her eyes at the sentence, using her senses to only be aware of the warm breeze blowing through them.

"I promise."

He takes a step forward. She does the same. Simon delicately holds out his hands to cup the sides of her face with it.

"_Go Jeanette, go! Get some!" Conscious Brittany orders, only now ending the argument between Eleanor._

"_You got this, Jeanette!" Eleanor consents._

The next step the female takes, though, wasn't cautious enough. Her eyes were trained on Simon's, and her foot was only placed where she thought the rib cage was. Instead, she falls, bringing the browned haired chipmunk with her.

Jeanette only wishes the second awkward moment hadn't taken place. Her body was literally on top of Simon's, glasses crooked with the tip weakly patting his cheek. Simon is as equally affected from the discomforting event, petrified with vigorous embarrassment and unease. The cheeks of the brunette appear as a pile of roses, sporting pink everywhere as her body reheats itself. In a small corner of her brain, Imaginary Brittany endlessly complains about the hot surface, but it was deeply irrelevant.

"_Kiss him."_

_What._

"_Kiss him." _

Her own mind didn't register whether the sound belongs to Eleanor or Brittany, but she didn't mind, because the persuasive tone was enough for her to oblige. She could feel the thick tension between them, her crushing on Simon now increasing.

However, Simon beat her to it.

The male's lips push onto the softness of Jeanette's, the weird feeling from earlier evaporating outside of her. The cliché statements she had read multiple times in books or stories or even heard from her own (real) sister, Brittany, were nowhere close to what was happening. It wasn't 'fireworks,' it wasn't 'sparks,' it was just a feeling of immense, love struck sensations. It would be like comparing a dog's kisses, Grandma's love, and your family and friend's own love with a touch of sweetness.

(Jeanette wasn't going to lie, though; she _did _express an electric glare of likeness.)

But as soon as Jeanette slides the idea away, another realization hits her. Simon and hers shared kiss was her _first _ever sensation of kissing anybody. The closest thing she ever experienced to a kiss from the opposite sex was when Freddy Smith from fifth grade was dared to kiss her on the cheek during a chess competition. That gross, sloppy, unplanned kiss nearly had Jeanette's stomach regurgitate, so she vowed never to be near a gross boy again.

This was completely different. An embarrassing memory aside, Jeanette fears what she was doing. Was there a proper way of kissing? Was she even _doing _it right? Oh, great, a twenty-year-old girl who's never had a first kiss giving one to a _celebrity_, a member of one of the most famous bands on the earth.

It sucked…, probably.

The two chipmunks released the kiss simultaneously, coincidentally. Jeanette chews the inside of her cheek. Simon stares stoically.

"Oh m-man," she admits then, "I just had my first…kiss."

The blue clad shocks her once more when he didn't react suddenly, gawking and shouting, "WHAT. You've never kissed anyone before?!" He only replaces his mouth with the stupid, half crooked smirk.

"I guess that makes two of us."

"Whoa—wait, what?"

"No one has ever kissed me on the lips, either."

"No…, no you're joking. That can't be true. You-you're Simon Seville. Of the Chipmunks. How could you—…?"

"Well, no one really thought I was attractive in Junior High. And, well, the other stars are focused on Alvin." He shrugs.

"Oh."

Silence.

"I really like you, Jeanette Miller." Simon still had on the crooked grin, except his face was glistening with optimism.

"I really like you, Simon Seville," Jeanette replicates.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The enthusiastic thriller in her heart beating was half the thinking. On another part of her mind, the once too quiet girl makes a connection to her favorite novel,

_Augustus Waters once said, "Maybe 'okay' will be our 'always.'" And that was true for both me and Simon. The promises we had were always true._

* * *

**IT'S CRAAAAZZZZZZZYYYYY MOFO!**

**AND.**

**AND.**

**WHY AM I SUCH A SLOW UPDATERRRR...**

**Actually, I know why. School is a bitch. End of story. Also, my wifi is running so fucking slow. That is all.**

**I've changed the story's plot up a bit, so the part two turned out shorter than expected. But hey, that's FINE. Yes, many references were made from the book **The Fault in Our Stars** (if you don't know what that is goodbye forever). I was just thinking that those references would make a great Simonette story. But yeah. That's it. Goodbye.**

**LATER SALADS AND BENCH LOVERS. **

**-Michael Wants Another Slice -w-**

**...**

**...**

**(pizza) (pizza)**


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